Chapter eight

Friday morning was buzzing in our house as the four of us tromped around trying to get ready for work and school. Pony and I were headed to school but not staying. Darry said we wouldn't have to start going back till Tuesday after the court ruling. Today we needed to go and collect our homework and let the school know that Soda would no longer be attending. Darry was heading back to work and today was Soda's first day at the DX station.

"Morning ya'll!" Two-Bit yelled as he, Steve and Johnny walked into the house. They were ready for school in their jeans and jackets. Two-Bit's was a black leather jacket and Steve and Johnny were in their jean jackets with the collar flipped up. Each of them walked into the kitchen and helped themselves to food in the fridge. The house was full of goodies and casseroles following the funeral. Apparently people believe they can make all of the pain go away with a pan of brownies. Two-Bit grabbed a cold piece of chicken, Steve a handful of brownies and Johnny took a slice of homemade apple pie. Johnny choose to eat civilly at the dining room table while Two-Bit and Steve went to the living room and flopped down on the couch.

I grabbed my shoes and socks and went to the living room and sat in mom's chair. After I sat down Steve leaned over and asked me how I was doing. This was a little surprising because it wasn't in Steve's nature to care too much. I shrugged my shoulders and told him I was ok, I lied.

"Soda tells me he is going to get a lawyer if they decide to put you up for adoption." Steve continued the conversation. "I think that you oughtta put up a fight before then."

"What do you mean?" I asked pulling my white sport socks on.

"I mean you should call that judge or something, start a petition that says you're better off here …" Steve shrugged his shoulders and then a new idea came to mind. "I know … tell the judge that if he puts you in a home or up for adoption you will stop studying and start smoking and drinking and stuff. That way you will guarantee it to happen if you move away, but if you stay at home it just might happen."

I had to laugh at Steve. He had some good ideas, but I couldn't see myself getting into trouble on purpose. "You may have a good idea there Steve." I thought about the possibilities as I tied my shoes.

"That's a damn good idea!" Two-Bit chimed in. "Just threaten the judge. That works every time. If you want I can lift a blade for you!"

"I'm not saying she needs to threaten him." Steve began to argue. "She just needs to come up with a plan or something. She shouldn't just sit here and do nothing. You oughtta find some law or something to prove you are right, like the time you nailed Mr. Torres to the wall when he called Soda an idiot."

"Mr. Torres is an idiot." Two-Bit said absently. "They should have fired him for that. If ole' Sodapop was a soc that teacher sure would have had it coming!"

I stood up to go and get my jacket when Soda came into the living room and changed the subject to cars and women. As I moved through the house I thought about what Steve had said. He was right. I shouldn't just wait for my future to be decided, I needed to take action. Only problem was I didn't know how.

"Scout let's go!" Pony yelled from the kitchen as he headed out to the living room. I threw my coat over my shoulders, pushed my arms through the sleeves and shoved my hands into the pockets. Immediately I noticed something rubbing against my hand. I reached for the item and pulled it out, a piece of paper. I leaned up against the piano and opened it up. It was the note that Kathryn had given to me the day before. I read the inscription, If you or your brothers ever need me don't hesitate to call, her phone number and signature followed. I thought about the girl and how much she seemed to adored Darry. She was the daughter of the city attorney. A bright smile spread across my face as an idea came to light.

From the living room Soda watched me. "What are you smiling at girl?" He drawled and slid his shoes on waiting for Darry to be ready to leave.

"Just thinking is all." I folded the note back up and put it back into my pocket hoping Soda hadn't noticed. He didn't. Two-Bit whistled and called us all out the door. I yelled to my brothers as I headed out, "Bye Darry! Soda have a good first day of work!"

Riding to school without Soda felt strange. Pony and I sat in the back with Johnny, no one spoke except Two-Bit who was telling dirty jokes. I guess no one really knew what to say. It was the first time we had all been together for a regular routine type thing since my parents had been killed. Now with Soda missing from the crew everything felt awkward.

We all entered the school as a pack. Following the rule that there was always safety and comfort in numbers. Once inside the door Steve, Two-Bit and Johnny went one way while Ponyboy and I headed for the office.

"See you'all tonight." Two-Bit called out.

"Yeah see ya." Pony answered as we headed into the school office.

We walked up to the front desk and were greeted by the secretary in a thick southern accent. "What can I do for you kids?"

Pony's raspy voice answered her. "We're Ponyboy and Scout Curtis. We are suppose to pick up our homework from the last few days of school that we have missed."

The look on the secretary's face turned to gloom. "I am so sorry to hear about your parents. How is everything going for all of you?"

Pony lifted his shoulder and slouched. "Alright I guess." Pony didn't keep good conversation with strangers and talking about our parents could only lead us to cry again, and Pony wouldn't dare do that in the school office!

"I have your assignments right here." The lady grabbed the pile of work, read a note on top that she then put down where we couldn't see it and put the rest of the pile of papers the counter in front of us. "Here you are Ponyboy," she handed a pile to my brother, "Scout these are your assignments, and these are for Sodapop."

I looked at Ponyboy and noticed the nervous twitch at the ends of his lips. He swallowed hard and said the words as a knot formed in his throat. "Soda isn't going to be attending anymore. He has a fulltime job now."

There was silence.

Looking at the secretary I noticed she was without words. I think she was piecing the puzzle together and formulating her own idea that Soda had no choice but to work. Ponyboy would tell me later that he saw the silence different. He thought she saw Soda as a quitter and a delinquent. I told Pony he was wrong, but neither of us had proof that we were right.

"Why don't you two have a seat, Principal Leary would like to meet with you if he has time." The secretary motioned us to sit in the chairs along the wall. She then stuck her head into the principal's office. Neither of us could hear what she said, but the principal's booming voice could be heard to tell her he would be right out.

The lady returned to her desk to gather some information then she stood up and leaned on the counter to speak with us. "One of you should go to your brother's locker and get his books and belongings."

"No need for that now Mrs. Beardsley." The principal's voice yelled from where he was walking through his doorway. He turned his attention to Ponyboy and I. "I want you two to come into my office."

"Yes Sir." Pony and I answered together and followed the man in.

"Shut the door there son." Principal Leary directed as he sat his six foot two body into his chair. Ponyboy shut the door and took a seat next to me. I remembered being in this office just a year before with Soda. I was frightened then, and a little frightened now. I always worried in the presence of authority. "I just wanted to tell you kids how very sorry the whole staff and I here at the high school are to hear about your parents. We want you to know that if you ever need anything just let us know."

Ever need anything? I thought about what I needed. Could the principal sway the judge to rule in my favor? I looked at the gray haired man and decided he wasn't the man for the job. He barely knew me and wouldn't make a good case for my staying in my home.

"Thanks." Ponyboy dryly answered for us.

"I met with a Mrs. Marten, your social worker."

The topic sparked Pony and my interest hoping he would provide us with information on the decision that the judge planned to make.

"She says your brother Darrel wants to look after you'all. She asked me what I thought of that and I told her that Darry was a great young man, good student and superb football player." The principal sat back in his chair. "Sounds like she doesn't think either of you will do well continuing to live at home. She thinks it will be too much strain on Darry and he is just too young for the job."

It was my turn to swallow hard and Ponyboy started to chew his fingernails. I felt the need to defend my brother. "Yes sir, it will be hard, but Darry and Soda are the only family we have left."

"Mrs. Beardsley told me your brother Sodapop is dropping out."

"Yes sir." I answered as Pony looked away.

"That's too bad, but I think a job will suit him better." Mr. Leary looked to the clock and seemed to all of a sudden have a place to be. "Well kids I let your social worker know that whatever the court decides you two are welcome students here."

Pony and I looked at each other, if the man was trying to make us feel better he wasn't doing a good job. We thanked him and left the office and were greeted again by Mrs. Beardsley. "Are you two going back to class now?"

"No mam', We won't be back till Tuesday. We still got some stuff to do at home." Pony lied, we didn't have anything to do, we just didn't want to be in school just then.

"Well here is Sodapop's locker combination. Why don't you go and bring his school stuff back here and take the personal stuff home with you."

Pony didn't want anything to do with cleaning out Soda's locker. He griped and moaned that it wasn't fair Soda wasn't able to graduate from high school. I joked that when we opened the locker we'd probably find every piece of missing homework he forgot to turn in and we would find out he was just as smart as the rest of us. It wasn't true. As you could imagine having a strange brother like Sodapop only meant we found strange things in his locker. Three greasy combs, two shirts, one sweatshirt, a few magazines with his favorite cars circled, a half eaten apple and one tennis shoe. The craziest thing was, it wasn't even his tennis shoe. We returned his books to the office, stuffed his shirts into our already full knapsacks and threw away the rest. Pony and I then walked a few blocks to the nearest bus stop to catch the long ride home.

The two of us sat on the bench together looking around at the homes on the street. They all had pretty yards and nice cars in the driveway. Sometimes it hurt to much to see what my parents could never have, so I turned my attention to the sun and clouds overhead. "Hey Pony?"

"Yeah?" He was looking up into the sky to determine what had caught my eye.

"Do you think mom and dad can really see us?"

Ponyboy looked over at me, he eyes full of faith. "Sure! I believe in heaven and I know they can see us. Sometimes I swear they are still with us and we just can't see'em, like angels."

"Yeah." I looked over and caught his eye. We had the same eyes and looking at his was like looking into a mirror, other than mine were blue and his were green, or as Pony preferred to say, gray.

"Johnny and I are going to Church on Sunday. Do you want to go with us?"

"That would be nice. I sure do have a lot of praying to do." I answered and smiled at him to show him that I wasn't really nervous about the court date. I was though and Pony knew I was faking. My brother threw his lanky arm around my shoulder to comfort me. "What do you think is going to happen on Monday?"

Pony dropped his head starting at the concrete and answered. "I don't know. I really don't want to think about it."

"The way Principal Leary talks it didn't sound like either of us were going to be able to stay with Darry."

"Principal Leary doesn't know what he is talking about." Pony lied to himself and me. He knew there was the hint of a new fear that he wouldn't be able to stay home either. Minutes passed and we just sat on the bench in silence. I leaned up against Pony because I was getting chilly.

A dozen thoughts ran through my mind before I started conversations again. "If you would have asked me two weeks ago if I could live without mom and dad I would have said no. Obviously I was wrong. Now the only thing that keeps me going is you, Darry and Soda. If I didn't have you guys I don't think I would have anything to live for anymore." I sniffled to hold back the tears. Damn those tears! I was getting sick and tired of crying all the time.

"Don't talk that way Scout!" Pony scolded slightly as he tightened his grip on my shoulder. "You know I couldn't go on without you either. I would go on living, but it would be like now, without mom and dad. There is just this big hole in my heart and it hurts to have it empty, ya know."

"I know. It's like I feel guilty because I am not with them. I feel like there will always be a part of me that is eternally sad."

Now Pony was sniffling. What a sight we must have been crying on the bench waiting for the bus. "If you have to move away I think my heart will break and never fix itself."

I turned to look at Pony to make sure he was paying attention. "You know what Pon! We have been together our whole lives and we shouldn't let anyone tell us when it is time for us to leave each other!" I wiped a tear from my eye. "Let's make a pact! If one of us can't live at home then neither of us will!"

Pony became excited about the plan. "Yeah! We will both just runaway together!"

"Yeah!" I said as if I was actually tough enough to follow through with the plan. "If we get separated we will meet … right here on this bench. At three in the morning, we will write a letter to Darry and Soda and tell them we will see them in four years when we are eighteen. Then we will hitch hike somewhere, maybe all across the country!"

Pony's face dropped at the thought of leaving Soda. "I guess I never thought about Sodapop. It would crush him if we ran away. If we were just in a home or something at least we could visit."

Pony's comment quickly sent the wind out of our sails. Before we could continue the discussion the bus pulled to a stop. At that point the plan was cancelled, which was probably a good thing. There was no way I could live away from home. Pony pulled a nickel out of his pocket and gave it to me for bus fare.

Taking the public bus from school was a long trip. We had to ride to the center of the city, wait for a second bus and then make one more transfer before our bus stop near the steel casting factory. On the bus we used our time well finishing our assigned reading and working on some other homework that we could do without pens and pencils. When the bus pulled to our stop we exited out the rear doors.

"Wanna go see how Soda is doing?" Pony asked. The DX station was only a block out of the way, and I would never say I didn't want to see Soda.

"Sure." I lugged my heavy pack onto my back and we turned the opposite direction of where we were headed. It was a nice day and the short walk to the DX station felt good after being cramped up in the hot stuffy bus. "Think he has some money for us to get a coke?"

"He better." Pony laughed and pulled his backpack onto his shoulders as well. "I sure would dig a bottle of Pepsi right now."